INSTRUCTION TO AUTHORS
INSTRUCTION TO AUTHORS
EDITORIAL POLICY
Paper must be submitted to J. Punjab Academy of Science (JPAS) with the understanding that they have not been published elsewhere (except in the form of an abstract or as part of a published lecture, reviews or thesis) and are not currently under consideration by another Journal published by any other publisher. The submitting (Corresponding) author is responsible for ensuring that the article's publication has been approved by all the other co-authors. It is a condition for submission of a paper that the authors permit editing of the paper for readability. All enquiries concerning the publication of accepted papers should be addressed to:
Editor in Chief,
Union Building, Punjabi University,
Patiala-147002 India.
Email: jpasciences@gmail.com
ABOUT AUTHORSHIP
Submission of the research paper to J. Punjab Academy of Science (JPAS) is taken by the journal to mean that all the listed authors have agreed to all of the contents. The corresponding (submitting) author is responsible for having ensured that this agreement has been attained for managing all communications between the journal and co-author’s list before or after publication. Any change in the order of the authors or the deletion or addition of authors needs to be approved by a signed letter from every author.
ABOUT PEER-REVIEW
JPAS aims at publication high of quality research while maintaining rigorous but a sympathetic peer review process. Manuscripts (other than those that are of insufficient quality or unlikely to be competitive enough for publication) will be peer-reviewed by two or more experts in the field, and a decision is returned to the author/s in about one month. If due to special circumstances, the review process takes more time, author/s will be informed by email. Manuscripts with significant results will be reviewed and published at the highest priority and speed. Possible decisions on a manuscript are:
accepted as it is
accepted after minor revision
accepted after major revision
rejected
If minor revision is required, author/s should return a revised version as soon as possible within 15 days. If major revision is required, author/s should return a revised version within 25 days.
ABOUT PLAGIARISM
Plagiarism is the use or close imitation of language and ideas of author/s and representation of them as one's own original work. Duplicate publication, sometimes called self-plagiarism, occurs when an author reuses substantial parts of his or her own published work without providing the appropriate references. This can range from getting an identical paper published in multiple journals, where author/s add small amounts of new data to a previously published paper.
Plagiarism can be said to have clearly occurred when large chunks of text have been cut and pasted. Such manuscripts would not be considered for publication in JPAS. But minor plagiarism without dishonest intent is relatively frequent, for example when an author reuses parts of an introduction from an earlier paper. The editors will judge any case of which they become aware (either by their own knowledge of and reading about the literature, or when alerted by referees) on its own merits. If a case of plagiarism comes to light after a paper is published in JPAS, the journal will conduct a preliminary investigation. If plagiarism is proved, the journal will contact the author's institute and funding agencies.
SUGGESTING THE REVIEWERS
Authors are desired to facilitate the review process by providing the names and e-mail addresses of at least three suitable reviewers, on the understanding that the Editor is not bound by any such nomination. Failure to follow this request may delay the handling of your paper, since the editorial office may specifically ask you to nominate potential reviewers for papers covering unfamiliar areas.
GENERAL FORMAT
Before submission of the new manuscript author/s should consider the following general rules for preparation of the manuscript. Please read these instructions carefully and follow the guidelines strictly.
Font: Important- Use Times New Roman 12 point size only (other sizes as specified), and Symbol font for mathematical symbols (in the text and in the figures).
Justification should be set to full (or left only, if preferred).
Do not underline: Use italics, bold or bold italics instead.
Line spacing should be set at 2 (Double).
Leave a line space between paragraphs and section.
Leave only one space after a full stop.
Manuscripts must be typed on A4 (210 x 297 mm) paper, double spaced throughout and with ample margins of at least 2.5 cm. All pages must be numbered consecutively. Starting with the title page as p.1, the text, which begins with p.2, is to be arranged in the following order: abstract, key-words, brief introduction, materials and methods, results, discussion, acknowledgements, references, figure legends, tables.
The first page of full manuscript must begin with the title of the paper centered on the page in 16 points Bold Title Case (title case means first letter of each main word capitalized), the names of the author/s (Initials-followed by a period each – family Name) with the main author's name mentioned first, the names and locations of the author's affiliations (Title Case), and the email address of the main author. The title page must provide the title of not more than 45 characters (including spaces) to be used as running head, up to five topical key words in English, a short title of not more than 45 characters (including spaces) to be used as running head, up to five topical key words in English for subject indexing, the full postal address of the corresponding author to whom proofs will be sent. The title should be brief and should indicate the species studied. Subtitles are not encouraged.
The abstract should not exceed 250 words, should be one paragraph and should be free of references and abbreviations. It should indicate clearly the scope and main conclusions of the paper.
The introduction should give the pertinent background to the study and should explain why the work was undertaken.
The materials and methods (or methodology) should give essential details, including experimental design and statistical analysis.
The results should present the findings of the research. They should be free from discussion. Results should be written in the past tense.
The discussion should cover, but not simply repeat the new findings and should present the author's results in broader context of other work on the subject interpreting them with a minimum of speculation.
The acknowledgements should be as brief as possible.
FILE SIZE AND FORMAT
File Sizes
Manuscripts will be distributed to reviewers via the Web. However, reviewers who use telephone modems may experience unacceptable download delays if the files are too large. A number of simple tricks can be used to avoid unnecessarily large files. Do not scan pages of text. Do not scan printed Figures unless no original digital document exists. If a scanned figure is unavoidable, please use Adobe PhotoShop or a similar program to edit the file and reduce the file size (not necessarily the image size) as much as possible before submission. For example, crop the picture to excludes surrounding "white space." Do not carelessly use colour. Black and white line drawings or gray-scale figures should not be saved increasing the information content of the file. Do not use colour unless absolutely needed to convey information.
Manuscript file format
We request to submit article in Microsoft Word format (.DOC). if you are using another word processor please save final version of the manuscript (using 'Save as' option of the file menu) as a word document. In this case please check that the saved file can be opened in Microsoft Word. We cannot accept Acrobat PDF or any other text files.
READABILITY
A paper may be returned to the corresponding author for no other reason than that it suffers due to poor English. Papers must be understandable and communicate an unambiguous message. The editors and staff can make only a limited numbers of edits, and it is the responsibility of the authors to obtain help from a colleague who is fluent in English if that is needed. Most problems occur when there are nuances in meaning, and the authors bear the primary responsibility for clarity. Poor English may ultimately be a reason to refuse a paper.
SUBMISSION OF NEW MANUSCRIPT
The JPAS is open only to the Members of the Punjab Academy of Sciences. Manuscript should be submitted electronically to JPAS to facilitate rapid publication and minimize administrative costs. All manuscripts should be submitted to:
Editor in Chief,
Union Building, Punjabi University,
Patiala – 147002 India.
Email: jpaspta@gmail.com
Authors should read Instructions to Authors carefully before submission of their manuscripts.
Submission by anyone other than one of the authors will not be accepted. The submitting to author takes responsibility for the paper during submission and peer review.
PREPARING THE MANUSCRIPT
J. Punjab Academy of Science (JPAS) is a peer-reviewed scientific journal that provides a high-visibility forum to the scientific community for the publication of top-tier original research according to the scope of the journal.
JPAS publishes high quality research work in the following forms:
Research Articles: research articles present original research and address a clearly stated specific hypothesis or question. Papers should provide novel approaches and new insights into the problem addressed. Research Article should arrange in the following order: abstract, brief introduction, material and methods, results, discussion, acknowledgements, reference, figures, tables.
Reviews/Mini-Reviews: Review articles are an attempt by one or more authors to sum up the current state of the research on a particular topic. Ideally, the author searches for everything relevant to the topic, and then sorts it all out into a coherent view of "the state of the art' as it now stands. Reviews Articles should inform about:
The main researchers working in a field
recent major advances and discoveries
significant gaps in the research
current debates
future directions
Only review article from experts in the field will b considered for publication.
Tables, Figures and illustrations
In presenting data, authors should anticipate the limitations set by the size and layout set by the size and layout of the journal. Large and complex table, figures and maps should be avoid in the main paper, but can be included in a data appendix for use by reviewers.
Figures should be saved in a neutral data format such as JPEG, TIFF or EPS. PowerPoint and word graphics are unsuitable for reproduction. Please do not use any pixel-oriented programmes. Scanned figures (in JPEG and TIFF formats) should have a resolution of 300 dpi (halftone) or 600 to 1200 dpi (line drawing) in relation to the reproductions size.
Any tables and figures that are included in the main text of the paper should be numbered separately, in the sequence that they are mentioned in the text.
Each table and figure should be presented on a separate page of the manuscript, with a brief and self-explanatory title. All text should be clearly legible, and all graphics and legends should be easily distinguished when printed in black and white. Tables should use horizontal lines only, with only blank space to separate columns.
Notes under each table and figure should be used to explain and specify the source of all data shown.
List of References
The list of references appear at the end of your work and gives the full details of everything that you have cited in the text in alphabetical order by the author's surname.
All sources must be referred in a consistent manner. Choose from the list of sources below, the examples given, provides a guide to the format and punctuation you should use.
General Article (Print and Electronic)
Elements:
1. Author's surname, Initial
2. Publication Year
3. Article Title
4. Name of Journal (in standard abbreviation)
5. Volume
6. Starting Pages
7. Ending Pages
Example
Dummont, J., Larocque-lazure, F. and lorio, C. 1993. An alternative isolation procedure for the subsequent determination of benzo [a] pyrene in total particulate matter of cigarette smoke. Journal of Chromatographic Science, 31: 371 – 374.
Book
Author/Editor's Surname and initials
Year of publication
Title of Book
Edition (if applicable)
Place of Publication: (followed by a colon)
Name of publisher
ISBN Number
Example
Shivana K.R. and Rangaswamy N.S. 1992. Pollen Biology: A Laboratory Manual. Springer-Verlage, Berlin, Germany.
Book Chapter
Author/Editor's Surname and initials
Year of publication
Title of Book
In: (enter editor's surname and initials)
Book Title
Edition (if applicable)
Place of Publication: (followed by a colon)
Name of publisher
page number
ISBN
Example
Atri N.S. Kour, A. and Kour, H. 2005. Frontiers in Mushroom Biotechnology. in RD Rai, RRC Upadhya and SR Sharma (eds.), Wild Mushrooms- Collection and Identification. National Research Center for Mushrooms, Chambaghat, Solan. Narosa, pp: 205-207.
Conference Papers
Conference paper's should be referenced using the following format and punctuation.
Author's surname, initials
Date of publication
Title of paper
In: Editor's surname, initials, (If applicable)
title of proceedings
Place of conference
Date of conference
Publishers
Page numbers of contribution
Example
Handerson, D.M. 1999. Hazard prediction. In: Disaster prevention, planning and limitation. University of Bradford, 12-13 September 1989. Technical Communication Ltd., pp: 64-69.
Manuscripts should be typewritten, double-spaced with sufficient margins (including abstracts, references/ etc.). The initial page should contain the title followed by author’s name and full mailing address. The text should include only as much as is needed to provide a background for the particular material covered.
The author should provide a short abstract, in triplicate, not exceeding 250 words, summarizing the highlights of the principal findings covered in the paper and the scope of research.
References should be cited in the text by the number in superior. List of references should be arranged in the number, author’s name, abbrevation of the Journal, volume number (year), page numbers as the sample citation given below.
For periodicals
1. R.H.Fox, Fund, Math, 34(1947),278-83
2. F.P. Guenbrich, Rev. Biochem, Mol.Biol. 25(2)(1990), 97-130
3. A. Furst and S.B. Radding, J. Environ. Sci. Health 2 (1984), 103-13
For books
1. H. Rund, The differential geometry of Finsler Spaces, Springer Verlag, Berlin, 1973, pp283.
2. M. Fredrick, Current Protocols in molecular Biology, Vol. 1, Green publishing Association and John Wiley and Sons. Inc, 1994, pp.221-233.3. N.Kharasch, Trace Metals in health and Dieses, Raven Press, New York, 1979, pp.55-69.
Abbreviations for the titles of the periodicals should, in general conform to the world list of Scientific Periodicals.
All mathematical expressions in case of a paper in mathematics and applied science should be written clearly including the distinction between capital and small letters. The equation numbers are to be placed at the right hand side of the page. The name of the Greek letter of symbol should be written in the margins, the first time it is used. Superscripts and Subscripts should be simple and placed accurately.
Indian ink should be used for making line drawings on white drawing paper or tracing paper. Lettering should be clear and large. Photographic prints should be glossy with strong contrast.
All illustrations must be numbered consecutively in the order in which they are mentioned in the text and should be referred to as Figs.
Legends to figure should be typed on a separate sheet and attached at the end of the manuscript.
Tables should be typed separately from the text and placed at the end of the manuscript.
Table headings should be short, but clearly descriptive.
Manuscript, (in picture) accompanied by diskette, should be submitted to the editor in chief, Journal of Punjab Academy of Sciences.
